Is email 'broken?'

A lot of people seem to think it is. What does that mean? Depends on who you ask.  We get too many emails. We miscommunicate over email. We suffer lost productivity because we are answering/deleting/filing/finding/replying/sorting.... 

There are as many suggestions on how to 'fix' email as there are folders in my archived mail. Inbox Zero, The Trusted Trio, filters, labels, contracts - and still some people find themselves buried under a pile of email - well, not literally because email is electronic, but you know what I mean.

And if you do know what I mean, then you will love The Hamster Revolution by Mike Song.  He attacks both sides of the equation - sending the right kind of email changes the kind of email you receive AND a simple storing system that anyone can use or adapt to how they work.  I have slightly modified his storage method, and am working on sending better email - including one of five purposes in the subject (Action, Info, etc.) so that the recipient can tell how to react to the email before they even read it.

 So how broken is your email? What have you tried to do to fix it? Did it work?  Let us know in the comments.